DRC’s Health Ministry Identifies New Ebola Case In Biena, Woman Dies Of Deadly Virus

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) health ministry on Sunday confirmed the resurgence of Ebola in the country, reported Al Jazeera.

The health ministry said a woman was found with Ebola symptoms in the town of Biena on February 1, who died in hospital in Butembo on February 3. She was married to a man who had contracted the virus in a previous outbreak.

“The provincial response team is already hard at work,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. “It will be supported by the national response team which will visit Butembo shortly.”

The World Health Organization, which is helping the DRC health ministry with the response, said more than 70 people who came into contact with the dead woman have been tracked and the places she visited are being disinfected.

The authorities have reportedly sent the samples to the capital, Kinshasa, to confirm the link to the previous outbreak.

“It is not unusual for sporadic cases to occur following a major outbreak,” the WHO said in a statement.

It currently remains unclear if the new case marks the start of a new outbreak in the region where the deadly virus killed over 2,200 people between 2018 and 2020, the second-most in the disease’s history and the deadliest in the DRC.

DRC has experienced 11 outbreaks since the virus was first discovered near the Ebola River in 1976, more than double any other country. The Ebola virus spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, triggering severe vomiting and diarrhea.

The widespread use of Ebola vaccinations, which were given to more than 40,000 people, helped stop the spread of the disease.

The emergence of more cases is likely to complicate the government’s efforts to eradicate Covid-19, which has infected 23,600 people and killed 681 in the country.

A coronavirus vaccination campaign is expected to start sometime later this year.